Before the season started, I was waiting for a Pistons practice to end with a few members of the media at the Pistonsí practice facility. We began talking about Detroitís schedule to start the season and we all agreed the Pistons would likely struggle out of the gate.

Some predicted 1-7, some 2-6. Best case scenario was likely 3-5, while 4-4 seemed like a stretch. Nobody say 0-8, but after an 0-6 start entering Saturday itís a distinct possibility.

Just about any team in the NBA would struggle with Detroitís schedule to start the season. A home game against Houston to open the season followed by a 10-day, six-game road trip and then return home only to have to face the defending Western Conference champion Thunder.

Most people see 0-6 and immediately groan, ĎMan the Pistons stink again this year.í

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The truth is Detroit has been competitive in five of the six games, the exception being a blowout loss to the Lakers.

The Pistons had a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter in the season opener against Houston, but struggled down the stretch. The Rockets also had a ton go their way, with James Harden playing out of his mind and Carlos Delfino hitting four 4th quarter 3-pointers.

Detroit fell by three at Phoenix and two at Sacramento. The Pistons lost by double digits to both the Nuggets and Thunder, but were still in both games late.

Iím not trying to make excuses for Detroit. In my opinion they should have found a way to win at least one game by now, but I donít believe the 0-6 record in indicative of how good the team will be this year.

Vegas set the over/under at wins for the Pistons at 31 1/2. Before the season I predicted Detroit would win 37 games and while Iím not sure if they will hit 37 now, Iím still pretty confident they will finish above 31 1/2 wins.

Some people have pointed out Pistons coach Lawrence Frankís teams have struggled to start the season in his last three years.

In Frankís final year in New Jersey the team started 0-16 before he was shown the door.

Last year, the Pistons started the year 4-20 and have again struggled out of the gate this year.

The truth is that New Jersey Nets team was completely flawed and finished 12-70 that year.

Last year, Frank took over a new team in the wake of a lockout and was put behind the eight ball. Frank was able to right the ship and Detroit finished 21-21 in its final 42 games.

Detroit is not going to go 0-82 or only win seven games like the Charlotte Bobcats did last year. The schedule will even out and the Pistons will likely start to win some games.

But that doesnít mean Detroit should just use the schedule as an excuse.

Through six games Detroit has allowed an average of 104 points per game, the third most in the league. Opposing teams are shooting 48.3 percent from the field against Detroit, which is the fourth highest in the league.

The Pistons clearly have to get better defensively.

Detroit is also dead last in rebound differential, averaging 9.6 less per game. Charlotte is the second worst at minus 6.5. The Pistons average just 36.2 rebounds per game, also dead last in the NBA.

Greg Monroe leads the team in rebounds at 8.8 per game. Jason Maxiell is second at 5.7 per game, while rookie Andre Drummond is third at 4.7 per game and heís averaging less than 16 minutes per game.

It also hasnít helped that the Pistons starting backcourt of Brandon Knight and Rodney Stuckey has really struggled to start the season. Knightís assists are up (6.5 per game), but heís averaging just 10.7 points and three turnovers per game.

Stuckey is shooting a dreadful 21.7 percent from the field and is eighth on the team in scoring at 7.8 per game. Of the 10 rotation players only rookies Drummond and Kim English are averaging less points than Stuckey.

After hearing how hard Stuckey and Knight worked in the offseason, I was expecting both to improve upon their quality play from last year. For whatever reason it hasnít panned out that way yet.

Itís worth noting Stuckey is reportedly battling migraines.

I expect both to put it together and when they do, the Pistons will likely look like a much better team.

Iím also pretty confident Frank will once again right the ship and I donít expect Detroit to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league all season (rebounding is another story). But thereís no guarantees I will be right.

Of course, as many will point out, especially my beautiful wife, Iíve been wrong before.

If Iím wrong about the Pistons and things continue down the current path then Detroit really could be in for a long year.

Dave Pemberton covers the Pistons for The Oakland Press. Email him at dave.pemberton@oakpress.com and follow him on Twitter @drpemberton.